Extensible and tiltable shade support



` Oct. 1'4, 1958 A. LElcH-ruNG 2,856,515

EXTENSIBLE AND TILTABLE SHADE SUPPORT Filed Sept. 25, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ngz s BY Oct. 14, 1958 A. LEICHTUNG EXTENSIBLE AND TILTABLE SHADE SUPPORT Filed sept. 25, 1957 a sneeis-sheev, 2

' INVENTOR. Arhu'rLeichung :A TTORNEY United States Patent G 2,856,515 EXTENSIBLE AND TILTABLE SHADE SUPPORT Arthur Leichtung, Roslyn, N. Y., assignor to Creston Glass Products Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., a partnership This invention relates to lighting fixtures and particularly to the supporting means for the light-diffusing shield or shade in electric yceiling or the like fixtures.

Difficulty has been experienced in the cleaning of the open top glass shade of such fixtures and of the lamp bulbs covered by the glass because of the necessity for dismounting the glass from the fixtures now in common use. Such dismounting by a person on a ladder is quite hazardous by reason of the likelihood of loss of control of the glass.

The present invention therefore contemplates the provision of means for so supporting the glass shade of a multisocketed fixture especially of the ceiling type, that the glass shade may first be lowered and then tilted while being securely held to the fixture and thereby adequately supported at all times, even while being cleaned, the shade being readily moved while so supported, out of the way to obtain access to the lamp bulbs, and as readily returned to its operative position.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a simple and effective but movable shade supporting device adapted to hold a centrally perforated glass shade to and to the remainder of the fixture.

The invention further contemplates the provision of which the glass shade has a central perforation, the

arrangements of the sockets and for shades Varying considerably in size and 2,856,515 Patented Oct. 14, 1958 ICC shadesupporting and tilting means in the normal or operative position thereof.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a modified form of the fixed guide showing the same made in one piece with the socket bracket.

Fig. 7 is a front elevational view partly in section, of a modified form of the invention wherein the sockets are secured directly to the canopy and the guide, slide and arm are elongated to a greater extent.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational View of Fig. 7.

In the commercially practical embodiment of the invention illustrated in fixture is held to the ceiling in the usual manner and carries the lamp sockets which are shown as two in number, though it will be understood that the number of sockets may be increased as desired and supported by the canopy in various ways, as for example directly, in the manner shown in Figs. 7 and 8. In the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the upper bracket 13 has a widened top 14 from which projects upwardly the threaded nipple 15. The nipple extends through the bottom of the canopy and is secured thereto by the nut 16. Extension arms as 17 at the lower ends of the upper bracket 13 cooperate with similar arms on the similarly shaped lower bracket 18 to hold the double socket 19 therebetween as by means of the bolts 20. The widened bottom wall 21 of the lower bracket serves to hold the extensible and tiltable support for the glass shade, which support constitutes the primary feature of the present invention. As shown, the support comprises a vertically movable pivot locked in place in its uppermost position by a bayonet lock, and an arm carrying the pivot and provided with means for supporting the shade.

As best seen in Figs. 3-5, the U-shaped guide 25 of the support is lixedly secured to the bottom wall 21 of slotted parallel upright legs 27, 28 of the guide. of said legs is provided with a bayonet lock serving as a combined guide and locking slot. The: slot has an upright elongated guide portion 29 preferably of uniupper enlarged slot portion 3l) of the leg 27 extends Fig. 4, but in the leg At its upper end, the slide 33 is provided with the slot portions 30 and cannot become slide is rst deliberately raised and then turned in the reverse direction.

As has been indicated, the slide 33 carries the glass shade 35 and the parts which secure the shade to the Figs. 1 5, the canopy 10 of the toward the right as viewed in slide and permit tilting. To the lower end of the slide is pivoted as by the eyelet rivet 24, the upper end of the arm 316 which passes through a suitable opening 37 in the bottom of the guide and may be turned into and out of locking position with the slide `as a unit. The lower part of the arm is narrowed to form a shoulder 40 and passes through the externally threaded nipple 3S and is flared as at 39 to wedge and secure the nipple between the flare 39 and the shoulder 4u. A flange 4l is provided at the upper part of the nipple and surrounds the arm. The nipple having been passed through the central aperture in the glass shade 35 and against the upper yieldable washer 23, a similar washer as 42 is mounted on the nipple underneath the shade and the nut 43 on the end of the nipple is tightened to hold the glass adequately and permanently in place against removal except when replacement is necessary. To assure the proper locking action of the tongues 34 by the lowering of the tongues into the deepened portions 30 of the guide slots in the operative position of the shade, a spring as 44 is arranged on and around the upper part of the arm 36.

It will now be seen that to lower the shade, the nut 43 and the parts connected thereto including the shade, arm, slide and spring are lifted as a unit suiciently to raise the tongues 34 to the tops of the slot portions 30 thereby compressing the spring 44 (Fig. 2). Thereafter, the nut is turned slightly in a clockwise direction to bring the tongues to the tops of the upright parts 29 of the slots, the nut then being released and the raised parts including the slide, tongues and shade lowered under their own weight until the tongues are halted by the bottoms of the slots 29. The slots are long enough to permit the pivot 24 to drop below the bottom of the guide thereby enabling the arm 36 to be swung about said pivot through a relatively wide angle and enough to give accessV to the upper surface of the shade and to the lamp bulbs without the need for removing the nut 43 or any other part from the xture.

To replace` the parts into their normal positions, the arm 36 is straightened to its upright position into alignment with the slide and the nut 43 Yraised until the tongues 34 are again at the tops of the slots 29 and then the nut is turned to carry the tongues to the slot portions 30 and thenreleased. The spring 44 and the weight of the assembly insures the dropping of the tongues past the apices 32 into locking position.

As shown in Fig. 6, the guide and the lower bracket for the sockets may be made of one piece of strip material as 45. In that case, the lugs 26 and part of the wall Z1 are omitted, and instead the integral bends 46 connect the bracket portion 18:1 to the legs 27 and 28 of the guide.

Where more than two sockets are employed in the tixture or the shade is so large that the pivot for the glass shade support must be dropped a greater distance than usual, the slide or the arm or both may be considerably lengthened. For example, in the form shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the sockets V"50 which may be four in number, are secured directly to the canopy instead of being carried by brackets suspended from the canopy. In this modification, the lugs 51 at the upper end of the elongated iixed guide 52 and which 'correspond to the lugs 26 of Figs. 3-5, are secured to the Washer 53 riveted to the nipple 54 which is secured directly to the canpoy as by the nut 55. The L-sha'ped or bayonet slots 56 are correspondingly lengthened'to permit the slide 57 to drop to a point close to the bottom of the guide. Similarly, the lengthened arm 58 serves to arrange the shade 35 at the proper place to clear the lamp bulbs while permitting tilting of the shade in the manner hereinbefore described.

The invention may also be applied to other than ceiling fixtures7 as for example, to drop light fixtures. In that case, the slide may be omitted and the arm 36 or 58 made U-shaped similarly to the guide or 52 to embrace the guide legs and slide thereon. To permit tilting,

4 the pivot for each leg of the arm enters and slides in the bayonet slot of the guide.

It will now be seen that there has been provided a simple but effective support for the glass shade of various types of electrical lighting fixtures; that the shade need not be removed or loosened to permit lowering and tilting movement thereof, but that such movement is easily attained by a simple lifting movement thereof followed by a slight turning movement; that the shade is adequately supported in its normal uppermost position and that the objects of the invention have been attained in a practical and commercially acceptable manner.

While certain specific forms of the invention have herein been shown and described, various obvious changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. An extensible and tiltable support for the shade of an electric fixture comprising a fixed guide having an elongated upright slot therein closed at the lower end thereof, a rigid slide having a transverse projection thereon reciprocating vertically in and guided by said slot, a shade-supporting arm, a pivot pin connecting the upper end of the arm to the lower end of the slide and movable with the lower end of the slide and the upper end of the arm into and out of the guide whereby the shade is tiltable independently of the slot about the pivot when the pivot is out of the guide, and means to lock the slide to the guide and to maintain the pivot within the guide in the uppermost position of the slide and the shade whereby tilting and lowering of the shade is prevented until said means is first unlocked.

2. The extensible and tiltable support of claim 1, the locking means comprising a horizontal extension at the upper end of the slot adapted to receive said projection on a partial turn of the slide relatively to the guide after the projection has been raised to the top of the slot, the guide having an aperture in the ylower end thereof for the passage of the .pivot therethrough vertically in both directions.

3. In an electric lighting fixture, a fixed guide having opposed upright sides and having a bottom provided with an opening, each of the sides having a generally horizontal bayonet slot therein and having an upright slot communicating at the upper end thereof with the bayonet slot and closed at the lower end thereof, a slide having tongues each reciprocating vertically in one of the upright slots and reciprocating horizontally in the bayonet slot whereby the slide is reciprocable vertically to a limited extent and rotatable to a limited extent in the guide, and arm pivoted to the slide `at the upper end thereof and reciprocable at said end as a unit with the slide through the opening into and out of the guide, a lamp shade having au opening therein, a shade-securing member passing through the shade opening and carried by the lower end of the arm, and means cooperating with the member to secure the shade to the arm whereby the shade may be lowered `with the arm and slide as a unit and also tilted through a relatively large angle with the arm when the arm is completely below the opening of the guide.

4. In an electric lighting fixture, a fixed guide having a pair of transversely spaced apart upright legs each having a bayonet slot therein provided with an upright extension, the guide having an opening in the bottom thereof, a slide within the guide having a pair of transversely extending opposed tongues at the upper end thereof, one of the tongues entering the slot in one of the legs and the other entering the slot in the other leg, the slide being of lesser height than the guide, a shade-supporting arm terminating at its lower end in a nipple and arranged with the upper end thereof within the guide and adjacent the lower end of the slide in the uppermost position of the slide, a pivot connecting the upper end of the arm to the lower end of the slide, said pivot being movable through said opening upwardly into the guide and movable downwardly to a point below the guide when the slide is in the lowermost position thereof, a glass shade having a hole therein for the passage therethrough of the nipple and a nut on the nipple securing the shade to the arm, the shade arm and nut being tiltable about the pivot as a unit through a relatively large angle independently of the opening when the pivot is below said opening and being adapted to be lowered as a unit before any tilting thereof.

5. In an electric lighting iixture, a glass shade having a central opening therein, an arm terminating at one end in a threaded nipple passing through the opening, a nut engaging the nipple and securing the shade thereto, a vertically movable pivot for the other end of the arm, the pivot having a horizontal axis, rigid guide means including a iixed means having an upright slot therein of predetermined length limiting the vertical movement of the pivot in both directions, for supporting the pivot for vertical movement, and means for releasably locking the arm against downward and tilting movement in the uppermost position of the pivot, the shade being tiltable through a relatively large angle about the pivot when the arm is in the lowermost position thereof as determined by the bottom of the upright slot.

6. In an electric lighting fixture, a shade having a central opening therein, a canopy in upward spaced and coaxial relation to the shade, a plurality of electric lamp sockets between the canopy and the shade and having the axes thereof disposed angularly to the common axis of the canopy and the shade, a guide in fixed coaxial relation to the canopy and upright slot therein, the slot extension, thereof, a

the sockets and having an having an upper transverse the guide having an opening in the lower end slide having the upper end thereof at all times within the guide, the lower end of the slide being movable vertically into and out of the guide through said opening in the guide, a transverse projection on the slide permanently arranged to move in the slot during the vertical movement of the slide and to move in the extension of the slot on a turning movement of the slide after the slide reaches the upper position thereof to lock the slide to the guide, a tiltable element overlapping the slide, a pivot pivotally connecting the overlapped portions of the slide and the element for movement as a unit into and out of the guide, said element being tiltable through a relatively wide angle with the shade as a unit when the pivot is below the guide, and means connecting the element to the shade passing through the opening in the shade.

7. In a lighting fixture, a shade having a central opening therein, and means to support the shade for upward movement thereof followed by a rotary locking movement about a vertical axis and for a rotary unlocking movement about said axis followed by a downward movement and a tilting movement through a relatively wide angle in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis when the shade is in a lou/ered position thereof, said means comprising a normally upright rigid arm, means passing through the opening and extending from the arm for connecting said arm to the shade, a pivot having a horizontal axis, said pivot passing through the upper end of the arm, means arranged coaxially of the shade and the arm for guiding said pivot, arm and shade as a unit for vertical movement and for limiting the extent of said vertical movement in both directions, and a bayonet lock cooperating with the guiding means to lock the pivot in the raised positions of the pivot against vertical movement on the rotary locking movement of the shade in one direction and to unlock the pivot for downward movement on the rotary unlocking movement of the shade in the opposite direction, the pivot being below the guiding means in the lowered position of the pivot preparatory to the tilting movement of the shade about said pivot.

8. In an electric lighting fixture, a pair of telescoping members permanently connected together, the outer member being iixed and the inner member being movable, cooperating means on the members constraining the inner member to reciprocate through a limited vertical path in both vertical directions and to move angularly through a limited horizontal path, the lower end of the inner member being out of the outer member in the lowermost position of said inner member, means for locking the members together in the raised position of the inner member, a shade, an arm operatively connected to and supporting the shade, and a pivot having a horizontal axis connecting the upper en'd of the arm to the lower end of the inner member and movable with the inner member into and out of the outer member.

9. In an electric lighting fixture, a shade having a central opening therein, and means for suspending the shade for vertical and tilting movement comprising a pivot, means constraining the pivot to move in a vertical path in both directions of limited length, said means including a guide having an upright slot therein closed at the top and bottom thereof the top of the slot limiting the upward movement of the pivot and the bottom of the slot limiting the downward movement of the pivot and a permanent connection between the pivot and the guide, and means passing through the opening and suspending the shade from the pivot for movement of the shade vertically with the pivot and for tilting movement in a vertical plane about the pivot when the pivot is in a lowered position thereof.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 740,401 Currier Oct. 6, 1903 2,268,731 Van Bloem Jan. 6, 1942 2,400,267 Stempfl May 14, 1946 2,820,888 Fekete Jan. 21, 1958 

